Why is the underside of the Pathfinder so susceptible to rust and corrosion? I remember the bottom of my 2001 Jetta being dirty but never rusty and corroded. Same with my Touraeg and it spent half of its life in the Northeast.
My Pathfinder was never used as an off road vehicle yet the underside is coated in a layer of rust and corrosion that you'd expect to find on an abandoned Ford from the 30s. My control arms are seized and any bushings have swallowed a bottle of pills to end their misery.
Cheap materials? Is there something I can do to help this?
What's up with all the rust and corrosion on the underside?
Moderator: volvite
I think it's been pretty clear that your PF had a pretty harsh life before you bought it. How things are cared for will certainly impact their reliability down the road. I'm not personally the best at washing my car, but I do try to keep up with it in the winter. They use a ton of salt on the roads here as well and my PF doesn't look any worse underneath than anything else I've owned.
To compare things that AREN'T taken care of.....for my company, I'm rotating out 2008 model trucks that have been used in limestone and coal mines. They're very rusty underneath...and if you looked under one of these and under my PF it's night and day. Those company trucks are used hard, rarely washed, off-roaded daily, and quickly becoming unreliable to be driven 40k miles a year. From here on they won't be used on-road anymore. Within three years those trucks will be sold for scrap as by then they'll have complete rust-through in the beds, frames will be getting weak, interiors torn apart, and they'll be lucky to just run without constant repair. How many trucks with typical road use would be totally worn out within 8 years?
I don't think anyone around here has had as many issues with their late model PF's as you and to hear of that kind of rust underneath...you just have to assume something has seriously happened to that rig. I'm crossing 100k miles and outside of a radiator and sway bar bushing, I haven't done a thing. I would have thought a pre-purchase inspection would have told you to run from that thing if it looks like that underneath.
To compare things that AREN'T taken care of.....for my company, I'm rotating out 2008 model trucks that have been used in limestone and coal mines. They're very rusty underneath...and if you looked under one of these and under my PF it's night and day. Those company trucks are used hard, rarely washed, off-roaded daily, and quickly becoming unreliable to be driven 40k miles a year. From here on they won't be used on-road anymore. Within three years those trucks will be sold for scrap as by then they'll have complete rust-through in the beds, frames will be getting weak, interiors torn apart, and they'll be lucky to just run without constant repair. How many trucks with typical road use would be totally worn out within 8 years?
I don't think anyone around here has had as many issues with their late model PF's as you and to hear of that kind of rust underneath...you just have to assume something has seriously happened to that rig. I'm crossing 100k miles and outside of a radiator and sway bar bushing, I haven't done a thing. I would have thought a pre-purchase inspection would have told you to run from that thing if it looks like that underneath.
I'm jealous that you've had such great luck with yours. Unfortunately, my experience with my Pathfinder has been right on par with its reliability ratings, cost-of-ownership reports (which are about twice as high as most of its competitors) and warnings I've received from several other Pathfinder owners. I was actually warned about the barrage of small repairs that hit you between 75-100K miles. I'm told that if I hold out, I should be good for a while.
To clarify, the rust on the bottom isn't the type of rust you'd find on a VW bus, where your feet go through the floor. It's just a layer of corrosion over everything. The car spent it's entire life before me in Southwest Virginia as a dealer loaner car. The paint, top non-metallic components and engine compartment are in near-showroom-condition. It's like the metal they used is some sort of lower grade or something. The bolts on the roof rack... garbage. I tried to loosen one and the head twisted right off.
I took the car to the dealer for an alignment and before even seeing it, the tech guessed that the control arms would be seized. Almost as if this isn't the first time it's happened. Sure enough, they were both seized.
Are your exhaust and hangers still metal or are they rusty? Do you wash your undercarriage a special way? Sorry, let me rephrase... do you wash your Pathfinder's undercarriage a special way?
To clarify, the rust on the bottom isn't the type of rust you'd find on a VW bus, where your feet go through the floor. It's just a layer of corrosion over everything. The car spent it's entire life before me in Southwest Virginia as a dealer loaner car. The paint, top non-metallic components and engine compartment are in near-showroom-condition. It's like the metal they used is some sort of lower grade or something. The bolts on the roof rack... garbage. I tried to loosen one and the head twisted right off.
I took the car to the dealer for an alignment and before even seeing it, the tech guessed that the control arms would be seized. Almost as if this isn't the first time it's happened. Sure enough, they were both seized.
Are your exhaust and hangers still metal or are they rusty? Do you wash your undercarriage a special way? Sorry, let me rephrase... do you wash your Pathfinder's undercarriage a special way?
If you're just talking about surface oxidation/rust then that's pretty much par for the course on anything. I have a 2012 Acura sitting here and can show you all kinds of rusty parts...particularly exhaust parts. Similar parts on my PF are more rusty....particularly the exhaust hangers and bolts. But again, it doesn't look much different than other vehicles of similar age. You're the one that compared it to an abandoned 30's Ford so I assumed it was really bad.
I do think that VW for a number of years really produced a very solid product and likely used more stainless steel underneath. You can easily tell if something is aluminum, stainless, or typical steel. The steel will have a coat of oxidation on it within a couple months.
I would think if there's an undercarriage/suspension bolt that hasn't been wrenched on in five years...there's a good chance it's going to be seized or very difficult to get loose. I have mine aligned every six months and never a complaint from the tech. Which reminds me...it's been six months.
I do think that VW for a number of years really produced a very solid product and likely used more stainless steel underneath. You can easily tell if something is aluminum, stainless, or typical steel. The steel will have a coat of oxidation on it within a couple months.
I would think if there's an undercarriage/suspension bolt that hasn't been wrenched on in five years...there's a good chance it's going to be seized or very difficult to get loose. I have mine aligned every six months and never a complaint from the tech. Which reminds me...it's been six months.
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